Honest objective criticism

Something I wanna say about this knife is that it has some of the design features to it that I don't like in a knife, but it has shown me that I could look past these things if the knife is basic and utilitarian. It's ergonomic and simple enough for me.
Now I think I could see myself owning a US made Kershaw linerlock or something which I normally wouldn't give a second thought based on looks.
 
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My one gripe with it by only seeing it is how the plunge line and the start of the edge come together. Looks like a small recurve will form over time from sharpening. Might be difficult to sharpen that area too.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I received this knife as a gift and I want to hear everyone's thoughts on the design.



I will say that it's ergonomic and fits the hand well for it's size, the blade is thin and pretty sharp, there's no blade play, it has a great solid lockup, and it's easy to open. The handles are a textured Frn with inlet steel liners, and the texturing is grippy but not too aggressive.

My thoughts based on design and initial impressions of quality are that I look at it and I completely see Kershaw - msrp $20.

It's a budget knife, but I find it serviceable and will find some use for it.
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Sure ! Enjoy it. I like the handle and the blade isn't too large or too small. If it is thinnish as you say it should cut stuff. The green is a good color. There are no big notch openings between the folded blade and the handle that irritate me to look at like on some fairly expensive la dee da knives.

One thing I would say is when I whip open some inexpensive knives with a liner lock they can get stuck and be difficult (even dangerous to get to unlock); careful there and if it tends toward lock stick then just open it easy and not fling it open.

No problems.
What steel ?
 
Cow51 said:
My one gripe with it by only seeing it is how the plunge line and the start of the edge come together. Looks like a small recurve will form over time from sharpening. Might be difficult to sharpen that area too.
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It probably would if the edge wasn't wider than the tang / riccasso area.
Normally I like to have or add a small sharpening choil, but I don't really think this one would need it.
Wowbagger said:
Sure ! Enjoy it. I like the handle and the blade isn't too large or too small. If it is thinnish as you say it should cut stuff. The green is a good color. There are no big notch openings between the folded blade and the handle that irritate me to look at like on some fairly expensive la dee da knives.

One thing I would say is when I whip open some inexpensive knives with a liner lock they can get stuck and be difficult (even dangerous to get to unlock); careful there and if it tends toward lock stick then just open it easy and not fling it open.

No problems.
What steel ?
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No problems with over travel or lock stick...ect which I've had enough of in those 100+ cheapo's from my teens.
The steel is I don't know, but I'm guessing probably 3cr##### or something based on touching it up on the bottom of a coffee cup.
It Probably won't stay sharp forever but should sharpen up really easily.
Definitely not a steel that would instill much confidence for extended cardboard cutting but I think it can serve some kind of role.
 
10 strokes on the bottom of a coffee cup got me this, I don't do a lot of paper tests so I probably didn't get that long of slices.

I've gotten cheapo knives as gifts before that I had to pretend to like, but while i may feel a bit ashamed to say it this one is worth carrying every once in a while.
 
To me the basic design looks simple and useful. I can't comment on build quality, steel, etc, but the design would work for me.
 
The only thing a knife HAS to do is cut stuff. It doesn't have to look good to do that, tho it is nice. And as a gift, a knife that gets used means more to the giver sometimes than the recipient. Use it, enjoy it, for as long as it lasts...
 
uxo2 said:
It should not matter what we think.

It should be.... I like it.. works for me.
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Of course, and I have my own opinions about the knife and that's why I listed my thoughts on the knife instead of asking " is this good ".

I figured I'd get some objectivity on it to see if anyone would be surprised about what it is,assuming they trust that the knife is as decent as I say my example is. I guess this was a bit of an experiment, and I was sort of inspired by a YouTube video where a knife couple had 2 kids put a group of knives in order from cheapest to most expensive ( I believe they ranged from 5$-$500 )
 
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Hickory n steel said:
10 strokes on the bottom of a coffee cup got me this
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We all know this is a $450 midtech. Stop trying to throw us off the scent! ;)

I think the basics of the design look nice, and I often find designs I love on cheap knives. Nice lines, chamfers, overall blade shape. When you start looking closer, you can see that the blade coating is probably junk, the jimping on the lock release is probably uncomfortable, the blade needs a sharpening notch, the handle is FRN instead of proper G10, etc. I also think that handle shape would start annoying my pinky after a while.

Honestly I like the overall appearance a lot, but that only goes so far. How is it in the hand? Looks like a good beater to keep in a drawer.
 
vanadium said:
We all know this is a $450 midtech. Stop trying to throw us off the scent! ;)

I think the basics of the design look nice, and I often find designs I love on cheap knives. Nice lines, chamfers, overall blade shape. When you start looking closer, you can see that the blade coating is probably junk, the jimping on the lock release is probably uncomfortable, the blade needs a sharpening notch, the handle is FRN instead of proper G10, etc. I also think that handle shape would start annoying my pinky after a while.

Honestly I like the overall appearance a lot, but that only goes so far. How is it in the hand? Looks like a good beater to keep in a drawer.
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It actually feels great in hand, and there aren't in my opinion many of those " little things " to this knife like a lot of cheap knives have.
Really surprising all the way around in my book, but I'm not loaded up on modern folders either so who knows if anyone else would really agree with me. I've used it a decent amount today and it's growing on me.
I could say some other company should do a nicer version of it, but there's nothing special about the design and I'll bet there's already something similar to it out there.
 
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Here's the reveal.


Not sure anyone expected this, but there may have been some suspicions.


Yes I posted about another one of their knives a month or two ago which I had bought myself based on looks.
I liked the form of that one and its an ok knife laying on my workbench to cut tape but this one is quite a bit better.
I'm definitely done buying these knives and won't post about any I'm gifted, but at least if someone does buy me one I know they're usable and better than the Tac-Force crap people still get me as gifts because I don't want to be rude and tell them they suck.
 
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That is a notably inexpensive knife.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I have one folder in my "collection" that is such an incredible piece of crap that I seriously wouldn't give it away and it probably cost me 5 times as much as that thing. If it's even serviciable, it's money well spent.
 
SpySmasher said:
That is a notably inexpensive knife.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I have one folder in my "collection" that is such an incredible piece of crap that I seriously wouldn't give it away and it probably cost me 5 times as much as that thing. If it's even serviciable, it's money well spent.
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Definitely, a year ago someone got me a 15$ " rescue knife " for Christmas and it wasn't anywhere close to as good as this.
It's still around somewhere but is pretty horrible and I don't even remember what it looks like.
This is the kind of knife that I'd give away to a fellow fisherman who lost or forgot their knife, I know it's safe enough to use and inexpensive enough to give away if I had bought it myself.

Btw with how some of these models are known to just be generally better than others in quality and with some having no markings on the blades, I get the feeling they come from different factories and that whoever did this one probably does some production for an American knife company.
 
What is the steel and how hard is it? Design matters little if the blade steel and hardness is no good.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Here's the reveal.


Not sure anyone expected this, but there may have been some suspicions.


Yes I posted about another one of their knives a month or two ago which I had bought myself based on looks.
I liked the form of that one and its an ok knife laying on my workbench to cut tape but this one is quite a bit better.
I'm definitely done buying these knives and won't post about any I'm gifted, but at least if someone does buy me one I know they're usable and better than the Tac-Force crap people still get me as gifts because I don't want to be rude and tell them they suck.
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except the few of us who knew from the getgo and told ya we knew what it was. im in walmarts a lot.

for 4 bucks give or take its likely not bad for what it is....not sure on heat treat though.......may have to buy one and test it myself .......
 
I see a nice looking knife, if the f&f is there, if it takes and holds a decent edge, then carry on.
 
It was a gift so it should be treasured..:thumbsup: And I think its KOOL!! :D John
 
Yep. We all figured out you were trying to make a point about some very inexpensive knife.

As has been mentioned earlier, it is easy to make a very inexpensive knife that looks like a more expensive knife. A bit of broken glass looks kinda like a diamond too.

The question is will it perform like a very inexpensive knife? It seems that all you have done is hold it, open and close it, and sharpen it to paper tearing sharpness. None of those really say anything about how it will cut.

Look, a 4 dollar knife isn't going to explode on you....but will it's edge hold up to any use? Will the lock or pivot fail? Will the blade snap due to imperfections or bad HT?

I mean it can vaguely resemble at ZT, and if that is enough for somebody, great.

I'll spend a few bucks more and get an Opinel.
 
I like the design. The only question would be the steel and how well it holds up. I'm no steel snob (I mostly own 154cm, VG10, S30v, D2) but I don't want to sharpen my knife every other day.

In the end, carry whatever makes you happy. $4 or $4,000.
 
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